@DanaMNelson – Page 6

February 22, 2012

People Skills

Today’s blog is a guest post from my son who turns eight today. He had a writing prompt in school asking him to write about a valuable lesson he has learned.

I was reading it again, and while, yes it is the miss spelled, run on sentence, hard to read scribbles of child, it is a valuable lesson for us all:

BE NICE

Take a moment read his philosophy and find a way to apply it today.

Learning to get along was a valuable lesson because later in life you might need people skills. Like if you’re having a fight and it gets intense, some people skills are be nice to others, obey your parents, respect your elders, and those are only a small amount. So, BE NICE!

Go on…. Go be nice and use good people skills!

January 20, 2012

Found: Stolen Car

Smartphones have completely revolutionized our lives. We take them with us everywhere. Here is another great example of how technology can be used to save something valuable to you.

This week a lady came into Wireless Zone of Evansville Indiana frantic as her 2012 Durango had just been
stolen. Blake Richey saved the day by helping her log into iCloud and use “find iPhone” (phone was still in car). Within 5 minutes the police had recovered the stolen car!

Via facebook Chris Jourdan offers this advice:

Tip of the day: ensure you set up “find my iPhone” or use an app like Lookout for Android.

Having the technology isn’t enough, you have to set it up and know how to use it.

If you have a smart phone, learn about it.
Take classes to get to know what it can and can’t do.
Talk to other users of the same phone type and find out what apps make their lives better, more interesting, more productive, and as yesterday proved, safer.

Other resources for help and information

There’s a class being offered at USI to learn ipad /iphone next week, but it’s fu

ll. If you’d like to attend, call the office of continuing education at the University of Southern Indiana 812-464-1989 and ask to be on the wait list. If enough people want it, they will offer it again.

Go to your provider to seek information. Evansville and Newburgh Wireless Zones are where I purchase my phones. They have an incredible staff that is knowledgeable, professional, and patient. They certainly came through for this lady!

December 5, 2011

Putting it to the test

For me, testing a device on the road is critical. Seeing how it reacts in various mobile networks and testing coverage in a larger geographical space are key. But testing on the road also forces me to test it when I’m least forgiving.

So I was off to a weeklong business travel excursion hitting over 5 cities in 7 days, balancing work and fun events. I went taking 4 devices to test: The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, The Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot SCH–LC11 hotspot, the Droid Bionic and its Lapdock.

As a seasoned traveler who is addicted to technology, I was happy to have such great tools at my disposal.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

I love that when interacting with facebook and twitter from this tablet I never get “Unable to view” message. It just works. When I reviewed the Xoom, another android tablet, I was smitten with the android tablet’s ability to work no matter the website I was trying to view. This tablet is much slimmer than the Xoom and has a sleek, stylish look and feel. The textured gray backing is just begging to be held. Camera specs, 4G, and ease of access to Google products made this a hit for me.

To be fair, I was also packing an iPad. For a head to head comparison, they each had their own qualities that made me want them for professional use.

Bionic

No comparison! People who know me know that have been completely smitten with the Thunderbolt. I am always keeping it in hand while testing the other phones that have been sent my way. This phone was tested to the fullest, while my Thunderbolt took a vacation. The Droid Bionic is sleek and has a very pleasing feel when using it as a phone. This may not seem like a big deal to some, but when you’re not zipping through the social scene, or keeping up to date with your work on the go, and actually using it as a phone, it matters. The sound quality, both outgoing and incoming, are superb.

Favorite things:

Sound quality
4G and processing speed
Screen clarity and touch screen reaction
Camera quality

Cons:

Camera speed: This was the most disappointing feature. Click and wait. This seems to be one of the hottest topics on the droid forums regarding this phone with no resolution as of this post.

Lapdock:

I was so excited to get my hands on this little slice of geek pie! The ability to interact with your phone, with the ease of a full keyboard, mouse, and screen, seemed very appealing.

Day one with any new phone always starts the same. I hop onto the Android store, and send all my apps to the new phone. Then I usually spend the better part of a day logging into the various accounts that I have: facebook, twitter, lightbox, dropbox, evernote. For even the seasoned touch screen typist, this is a tedious process. With the lapdock, this was a breeze!

The honeymoon was over quickly. After a few trails of texting and answering e-mail with the same ease of a laptop, I drifted to web browsing and trying out some of the featured web apps.

Error: Low Memory

This device runs on the processors of the phone, but at the end of the day, it is a phone. It is not strong enough to run complex websites and apps.

Glorified Charging Station

For me, at the end of the day, all this accessory was good for was a glorified charging statin. But, it did that really well! Yo’ve been there. You’re at a conference or an all-day meeting. You’re tweeting, taking notes, and answering urgent e-mails. Then, your battery is dead before lunch. You have to move to sit near an outlet or do without while it charges. Not me, not this trip. I slapped the phone on the dock and kept on notetaking. After a short while, the phone is charged and the battery on lapdock is still close to full.

A more practical application

While this is not my next purchase, it has potential for a large number of people. For the aging population, for the non texting generation with texting teens, and people with impaired eyesight, this tool is worth the money. Being able to use the full keyboard to keep up with the lighting speed of the texting teen, and utilizing the full screen size will be a big help to many.

Hotspot: Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot SCH–LC11

Staying connected while traveling is really important to me. Many airports and hotels have WiFi, but at a not-so-convenient price. Enter the hotspot. I had my laptop, iPad, and phone, as well as a second laptop connected to this one device and still had normal web surfing speed. I connected to the hotel’s paid wireless and found the speed of the hotspot to be almost double. This is definitely something that needs to be in my stocking this Christmas. Well worth the money.

If you have a can’t live with out tech device you travel with, please share it in the comments!

These devices were sent to me to demo free of charge by Verizon. I was not paid, nor did get to keep any of the items, so feel free to add a few of them to your Christmas list for me. ;0

October 19, 2011

10 Apps for Business

This article appeared in the Print version of the Evansville Business Journal – October issue.

More and more people are turning to smart phones for work and for personal reasons. This month let’s review some useful apps for the business world. Next moth we’ll highlight some of your favorite apps for personal use.

Most of these aren’t new, but for the new smartphone user, having a guide is helpful. E

ven seasoned users might get an idea or two on some ways to make working on the go more streamlined, more productive, and more efficient.

1. Square – By far the favorite app of the business person who processes credit cards. The app is free, the device that allows you to scan credit cards using your smartphone is free, fast and easy to set up. There’s a 2.75% per swipe fee, next day payout. (For a comparison, Paypal, which at this time only allows for web payments, costs 2.9% +$0.30 per transaction.)

2. Dropbox – Have your files anywhere you might need them. Store any type of file safely and securely. For the tech geeks, it uses Sec

ure Sockets Layer (SSL) and AES-256 bit encryption. It comes with 2GB of space to start with. You can pay for extra space, or get additional people to sign up. When they do, you get more space for free. You can share files with co-workers down the hall or halfway around the globe.

3. Evernote – Similar to Dropbox in that you can have your files when you want them. Evernote, however, has the added benefit of tags, searching, voice and video notes, and photo to text recognition. This means that if you snap a quick picture after the conference of the white board, you can later search your Evernote and items written in the photo will show up on search.

4. Stitcher – News is important in the business world. Stitcher allows you to have your favorite news radio, on demand with no tethering or syncing. It’s for most any type of radio so you can get your sports fix too.

5. TextExpander Touch – this great iphone only app allows you to type short phrases and it expands to pre set messages. “SMS5” would enter “Running late. Be there in 5.” This can be set up to run in any iphone apps that include TextExpander touch integration.

6. PasteBot– This is simply a clipboard manager that allows you to save and org

7. Hashable – Many business owners are relying more and more on relationships built online. When asked what apps you use for business, many said Twitter, Facebook, or Google+. Hashable is a simple and easy to use tool to remember relationships. It allows you to save contacts, follow up, search relationships and more.anize all types of clips to be utilized in other applications.

8. Tripit– Smart, easy to use, and a must for the business traveler. Track all your travel information in one place.

9. Hootsuite – With social networks being a more frequent way to stay in touch with co-workers, employers, venders, customers, and potential clients, an app that can manage multiple accounts on multiple platforms is a great time saver. Access and post to your Twitter, your business twitter, FourSquare, Linkedin, facebook personal and professional pages, WordPress, even your MySpace.

10. G+ – Google plus, with it’s easy of separation, is perfect for the business user. The app for this was not available for iphone until late July, but both android and iphone users love the key features that bring G+ to life on your smart phone.

Do you have apps you LOVE? Join us for the first ever Tri-State App Party. This event will be held October 27th at 5PM. It is free to attend. Come get ideas on apps to use with any of your devices, share your favorite app, and enjoy some yummy appetizers and prizes provided by our sponsors Wireless Zone and ChickFilaEvansville.com. For more info please visit www.EvansvilleGirlGeekDinners.com (Please note that this event is not gender specific. The Girl Geeks are assisting with the set up, but all are welcome.)

August 1, 2011

Just a Girl Looking for a Phone

I shared with many of you my decision to leave AT&T as a cell phone customer. This was not an easy decision, as I have been an AT&T customer for a very long time. Once I made the decision to go to Verizon, many people assumed I would jump right to the iPhone 4, which is now also available through Verizon. But as my friend Andrew would say, I’ve decided to make the jump to the “dark side.”

As with many major life changes — like getting fat or going bald — we don’t really actually notice them when they’re happening. I was falling in love with Androids.

How did this Happen?

Out of the blue one afternoon I was contacted by a representative from Verizon seeking my honest opinion. She offered me the opportunity to play with and provide feedback on some Verizon devices. This feedback would be published on my blog and / or the Evansville Business Journal.

Play with tech toys? Naturally I said yes.

For two weeks, I tried out several devices, including two phones, two WIFI hot spots and the Motorola Xoom, using them in a variety of settings that included an out of town conference. Like a coffee lover getting a first taste of Starbucks, I was hooked.

Lightning struck

The device that really took my heart was the HTC Thunderbolt. I really love the way the Thunderbolt phone interacted with me (yes, I did just refer to a phone as though it has human characteristics) and the way it looked and felt while I used it.

Thing is, I’m a heavy tech user. While there are many key features of the Thunderbolt that I like, I had some real issues I could not ignore: Heat and battery life. I heard myself saying several times that if you offered me a Thunderbolt today, I would gladly give up my iPhone . But the heat and battery life issues it turns out are deal-breakers for me.

The Search is on
So now here I am, willing to give up my phone, but not sure what to replace it with. So far Verizon has sent me a Droid Pro and the HTC Thunderbolt to take out for a spin. My local Wireless Zone has been kind enough to let me demo an LG Revolution and a Samsung Charge. All have had good features and some not so perfect for me features.

Yeah, I get all the data on the latest phones as they come out, often even before they come out. I know the technical specs, and what they can do — on paper. But a phone is so much more personal; everyone uses it differently. I need a phone that will go the distance with me, one that will bring up data and run multiple apps, remind me when I have meetings, get me there with good directions AND not run out of juice after just 4 to 6 hours.

I am on a quest to find the perfect phone for me. This girl geek, lover of technology, user of all things new and social is looking for lightning to strike twice.

July 22, 2011

Determined to be the Solution

There are a lot of reasons people blog about Shaun King. He’s an entrepreneur. He’s a distinct voice in social media. He’s a walking miracle. He’s an advocate for courage.

This is not the first time I have blogged about Shaun. I first blogged about him because, late at night, a friend said, “if you are not, please pay attention to the tweets from Shaun right now.” What I saw moved me. It changed me. But it was in the middle of the night. I was afraid so many people would miss the moving message. I put that post on my tumblr blog, which I use more for personal and non-tech topics.

I am again sharing the story of what this “broken man” is doing in the world today. At least he posted this in the middle of the day. But broken up in the crowded twitter stream, I felt something got lost. I read it and wept.

I am choosing to put this on my business blog for four reasons.

He is using social media to communicate, connect and raise awareness for a cause — 7 of them, in fact.
I think it is important to highlight when someone is being effective in their social efforts. We can learn from what others are doing.
I’ve not looked at data to support this, but I would bet that more of my professional blog followers are using geolocation services like Foursquare. Next time you check into a food place, remember Shaun’s reason #1 (read on to see what I’m talking about).
I want the people and businesses that follow me to be aware of causes and problems in our world. I want them to understand that even if you can’t help by giving, you can help by reposting this story on your FB, twitter, LinkedIn, G+, e-mail lists, and anywhere you think people will read it. In Shaun’s words, “YOU have WAY more potential to radically change the world than you know. “

Historically I avoid topics that are “touchy.” I want you to read this not from any political standing, not from any religious perspective, but as a human being. Read his words and absorb the gravity of suffering that he is describing. Read his words and connect with some fellow human beings who are living in hell.

The following series of tweets are from @ShaunKing

Seriously powerful and moving.

<—-Blowing off the dust from my soapbox. Get ready. If you have truth allergies unfollow me for the next 15 minutes.

Is this mic on?

Right now. @ this moment. THOUSANDS of people (particularly babies) are dying of dehydration & starvation in Somalia. Worst famine in 30 yrs

Let me break down what is happening and give us all insight in to what we can do. Possibly the worst humanitarian crisis in our lifetime…

5 factors have caused what now equates to millions of people being severely malnourished and scores of needless deaths. Here they are…

First off, let me say that you need to care about this. We are citizens of this world & babies & pregnant moms are dying in droves.

5 Reasons why a Famine was just declared in Somalia (first in decades)…

5. The love of money is the root of all evil. Wherever starvation of this magnitude exists so does great corruption. Corrupt gov. there.

4. Three years ago Somalia barred ALL aid/relief organizations from the country. All of them.

3. Somalia (and the surrounding region) is experiencing a ONCE IN A LIFETIME drought. Bone dry. Everywhere. As far as you can go.

2. One million Somalians have, by foot started to flee the country, but found out that almost nobody wants them or can handle them.

Finally, the final reason this famine exists is personal…

1. A famine exists in Somalia b/c you & I don’t care enough. We eat like hogs & throw away half full bottles of water & ignore the world.

At the end of this conversation I will give you 4 news sources to read & 4 solutions, but let me press my case for a minute.

I believe that God holds us accountable for what we do with what we know. You & I pretend way too much like we’re giving the world our best.

Are you listening? It’s about to get real.

I read this article. It hurt me. Moms and their families were starving to death and had no water so they started walking from Somalia to…

Kenya. It was brutal and harder than they expected. Took many moms 4 weeks to walk it. Thousands died on the walk alone. What i am about…

to say broke me down. Unable to carry their kids, mothers regularly sat their dying babies down and left them on the road. The journalist…

said that on 3 occasions he saw women near death show up @ the Kenyan border w/ dead babies strapped to their backs.

Let me give you four articles to read. You have to see this for yourself. It’s awful, but we can make a difference.

Please retweet my tweets and let’s begin making this crisis known. Please begin educating others with what I am telling you. It matters

Babies like him are arriving in the Dadaab Refugee camp in droves. They mainly die once they arrive. http://twitpic.com/5tkgyk

LA Times Article today from Robin Dixon on Somalia:http://t.co/tpq2c7N

The best articles on the famine/drought in Somalia are coming from Al Jazeera. They have people there. http://t.co/ZruuLRq

Please look @ all 15 of these pictures from Somalia in the NY Times. This is OUR WORLD! http://t.co/982NQTq

We are discussing starting an @TwitChange campaign for Somalia. Something bigger than we’ve ever done.

Here are the 4 organizations that I know are on the ground in Somalia and particularly in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya (Ground Zero).

Doctors w/o Borders. They are on the frontlines w/ the famine in Somalia. http://t.co/dmZSB1x

UNICEF is there right now doing great work. http://t.co/F3zWoVv

OXFAM is giving the crisis in Somalia their best shot:http://t.co/gwBuCs9

That’s all for now. Please be determined to be the solution for Somalia & people that are hurting all over the world. Be courageous. -Shaun

Follow him on www.TellTheMountainToMove.org/

July 10, 2011

Xoom Test Drive

(This article originally appeared in the Evansville Business Journal )

With less than a month on the market, I was given the opportunity to test drive a Motorola Xoom. This tablet has a lot of veryinteresting features that make it more desirable in some ways than an ipad2. Ifyou’re an Apple fan, and are used to Mac products, you might be more comfortablewith an ipad.

This tablet is comparable in price, processor and screensize. The resolution on the Xoom is slightly higher, and it has a 32 GB microSD, expandable memory that you can’t get with the ipad2.

The cameras arenotable better. While the addition of a backcamera with the release of the ipad2 was a big selling point, it was also a biglet down in the quality of camera. Thefront camera on the Xoom is a two MP and the back camera has a full five MP. Ifthe camera is important to you, the Xoom will win your heart.

Another big benefit ofthe Xoom is its ability to support flash within the web browser. If you do alot of browsing on your tablet, this might be a very important feature for you.Another feature that sets Xoom apart from the ipad2 is the extra ports.

The Xoomhas a micro USB 2.0 and an HDMI out, so if you’re into playing angry birds, youcan connect your Xoom to your 32 inch flat screen, and play some big angrybirds.

While Evansville is not on a 4G network at this time, the Xoomwill be capable of data transfer on this faster network when it does arrive. Ifyou travel, chances are many places you currently go are already equipped withthis faster network.
While we’re talking about the network, you can buy an ipad2 currentlywith no additional contract for a data plan. If you decide you need one you canpurchase it for the month or months you’ll need it. The Xoom isn’t currentlyoffered with a WiFi-only option.

After using this tablet for a few weeks, Ihave to say I really appreciate being on a data plan, as opposed to only havinga device that accesses the information I need when I’m near WiFi. If thenetwork was detected, and I had previously joined to that network, thetransition from 3G to WiFi was seamless.

There are a variety of ways in which I could use this tabletas an e-reader. It came with an application called “Books.” This was verysimilar to the “Kindle” app, which was also available for this tablet.

The Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library has a system online that allows you to checkout e-books. You have to use their application called “Overdrive.” You simplygo to the EVPL website and enter your library card number. You open the bookwith this application, which is very similar most other readers. If you have atablet, whether it’s an ipad or a Xoom, I strongly encourage you to try thise-book borrowing system.

When the iPad was first released, many of the applicationsin the Apple market would work on their tablet. It took some time for thedevelopers to catch up and create a variety of applications that werespecifically for the larger screen, but it eventually did happen. The same istrue in the Android market. There are currently only a handful of apps that arespecifically designed for a tablet on the Honeycomb system, but just as theApple market caught up, I fully anticipate that developers will have the Androidmarket caught up in no time.

Watching TV episodes, like Fringe for example, directly fromtheir website, was done with ease. The sound and video were incredible, and theoverall use of the Xoom as multimedia player left me very impressed. ~~I wasdisappointed to learn that Netflix, at this time, will not play on Android devices. They’re working to remedy this issue~~. You can as of June, watch Netflix on the Xoom! There are still issues with viewing content from Hulu.

My overall experience with the Xoom tablet left me veryimpressed with this device. If you’re that Mac user who’s more comfortable withApple products, and are hesitant to transfer because of the loss of music, besure to check out Double Twist, the itunes for Android, that will seamlesslyimport all your itunes.